Helmand farmers given subsidised generators

Farmers who shunned poppies and planted other cash crops were given subsidised electric generators in Nad Ali district of southern Helmand province.

Deputy district chief, Nazar Muhammad Habibi, at presentation ceremony, told media that the generators would be distributed among 8,000 families, while every four families would be given one unit.

“These generators will be distributed among only those families who have not cultivated poppy in their farms and helping the government in bringing peace,” said Habibi.

Distribution of 1,900 generators in Nad Ali district started on Sunday.

A sum of 4,800 afs would be collected in return for each generator, he said, adding that the machines were funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Daru Khan, a local resident, said he was one of the beneficiaries of the generator project but was not happy with programme.

“If the budget for the generators was spent for other basic projects, it might have benefitted so many people,” he said.

Abdul Ghani, a resident of Chah Ingeer area of the district added: “Locals have no money to buy oil for these electric generators. Therefore they will sell it in the bazaar.”

Meanwhile, an Afghan official of the Southern Regional Agricultural Development Project (SRADP), responsible for distributing these machines, on condition of anonymity, said they had already handed out improved seeds among 4,000 farmers in the province.